← Cornerstone Chapel - Audio Podcast
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Well, tonight, as any good teacher will do, is kind of give you the objective for the night, Right? Tonight we're going to be talking about God's prescription for happiness. Happiness. I heard somebody out there, like, say, I want to be happy. So we're going to talk about happiness. And so happiness as it relates to what God's word prescribes happiness to be all right. So if you would turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew, chapter four, five. And so when Pastor Gary comes back, you'll have the privilege of getting back to 2 Chronicles. But tonight, let's talk in the Gospels. Matthew, chapter five. You with me? Say amen. Amen. Somebody's with me. All right. Well, Matthew, chapter 5, verse 1. Let's start right here. And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain. And when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the kingdom or they shall inherit the earth. Verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Let us pray. Father, in Jesus name, God, we thank you tonight. God, thank you for your word, the word that you inspired by the power of your Holy Spirit. God breathed word to speak unto us. Lord God. Thank you, Lord, that you've given us a revelation. You've given us, God, your instructions from heaven. The hope that we have in your word that never fails. We ask, Lord, you will speak to us tonight so that we would be hearers. Not only hearers, but doers of that word as well. And that we will be forever changed and that we would glorify you in the way we live. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. So as we're talking tonight, as I mentioned, we're going to be talking about this whole theme of happiness. Has anybody ever said to yourself, I just want to be happy? Anybody honest? Anybody honest with yourself? You said, I just want to be happy. Well, I'm going to help you out tonight. I'm going to help you out tonight. So Merriam Webster defines happiness like this. Merriam Webster says happiness is a state of well being, contentment and joy. All right, everybody with me so far on track. Happiness is a pleasurable or satisfying experience. I would dare to say that since the dawn of creation, mankind has been on the this journey, this pursuit of this state of being to be happy. Eve wanted to be happy, didn't she? She saw fruit and it was pleasing to her, what her eyes like that would make me happy, right? Cain wanted to be happy, didn't he? Cain said, I, I, I, I, I desire to do something that I want to do. Forget about what God says, but I want to do it and I want to be happy. And it that his pursuit of happiness caused him to be angry with his brother. And that pursuit of happiness outside of God led him to murdering his own brother. So mankind throughout time in history has been pursuing happiness. Even we bore that down to, you know, we just had America. We celebrated America 250 here at our church and around the, and around the nation, we celebrated America's 250th year. Praise God for that, right. Such a great nation we live in. And even in the codified in the foundation of our nation in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson penned this, didn't he? He said, we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are what, you know it, life, liberty and the pursuit of, you know, it, happiness. You know, I went to Google and I said, google, can you give me a list of all the songs? Because I wanted to kind of, you know, get a finger on the pulse of what, you know, what's been in our pop culture, what's pop culture been saying about happiness. And so I said, give me a list of all the songs with the title or theme of happiness. And Google said, yeah, good luck with that because there's so many. Google said, I can't list those. I can't list all of those because there's way too many of them. That kind of tells you right there how much happiness, how we put a premium on this thing called happiness. He said, I can't. Google said, I can't do that. But what I can do is within the past five decades or so, I can give you like the, you know, the top tens, right? The songs that are made in top tens. That have happiness in them. And here go some of them. Ready? Happy Together, 1967 by the Turtles. Anybody familiar with the Turtles? Are we talking about Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael? I don't know who the Turtles are. That was a. So when I say Turtles, that's what I'm thinking about. You know, Michelangelo. Cowabunga, dude. But somebody knows the Turtles. Okay, all right, all right, okay. All right. I'll take your word for it. 1975, there was a song by the Temptations called Happy People. Anybody in that era? Okay, I see some heads nodding. Okay, all right. By the year 2000. That's a little closer to my speed there. By the year 2000, Mary J. Blige made a song, said I just want to be happy. She just got straight to the point. I want to be happy. All right. Mary J. Blige was one of my favorite artists in high school. By 2002, Ashanti, you know, R and B artist. She said she made a song called just happy. 2002. All right, 2009, Leona Lewis, anybody? Any Leona Lewis fans out there? Okay. I saw kind of hand. Okay, Leona Lewis. Leona Lewis made a song called Happy. Okay. In the early 2010s, the Rex Orange County. I don't know who Rex Orange county is. Okay, Some Rex Orange county fans up there. I'll take your word for it. They made a song called Happiness. Happiness. Kid Cudi in the mid 2010s, Kid Cudi. Any Kid Cudi fans out there? Okay. Okay. Kid Cudi made a song called the Pursuit of Happiness. Alex is on fire. In the late 2000 and tens made a song called Happiness. Janae aiko in the 2000 and tens, made a song called Happiness over everything. Happiness above everything. Happiness is all I'm concerned about. She just got straight to the point. I mean, she made it clear. In 2010. The strokes. The Strokes. I don't know how you could be happy with a band name like that. I understand why they. They're pursuing Happiness. The Strokes, but they made a song called Happiness. Everybody's gonna be familiar with this one. 2014, a dude by the name of Pharrell Williams made a song called Because I'm Happy. Right? You know that. You know it. So Happiness, I guess, you know, suffice it to say, people are concerned with this pursuit of happiness. In 2006, actor Will Smith made a. Made a movie, right? Everybody remember that? The Pursuit of Happiness, where he played and portrayed a real. It was. It was based on a true story. A man by the name of Chris Gardner. He plays Chris Gardner, who was a man who was just, I guess, down on his luck, having a hard time in life. And I mean, just everything in life that could go wrong went wrong for this guy. And Will Smith plays that character in that movie. I remember I saw that movie. It was a very touching movie. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Maybe on Hulu or something, right? Check it out. But the pursuit of happiness. And I remember one scene in that movie where Will Smith is talking to his wife and they're just. I mean, he's about to go to a divorce. She doesn't want to be with him anymore. I mean, think this character, he's going through it and he just wants to be happy. And in the movie, the scene, his wife is like, I'm not happy. I'm not happy. I'm just not happy. And he says, go get happy, Linda. Go get happy. You know, it's interesting. That was pretty ironic because in a resurfaced Instagram story from 2018, Will Smith explained to his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, that he was stepping back from the idea of being responsible for her happiness. He said, I retire, quote, I retire from trying to make you happy. I need you to go make yourself happy and prove to me that this is even possible. That dude's pretty. The nerve of that guy, right? He's like, I need to see if this is actually even possible for you to even do this, because I'm lost. He's like, I'm lost. I can't make you happy. I retire. He says this decision was rooted in the understanding that while a partner can bring joy, laughter and comfort, and happiness itself is deeply personal and cannot be fully controlled or created by someone else. I think Will Smith was onto something here. Will elaborated that expecting a partner to make you happy places unrealistic pressure on a relationship. He and Jada recognized that they were two separate individuals on separate journeys and that each person's happiness should come from within. By focusing on their own internal joy, they could bring a more fulfilled and and balance presence to their relationship rather than relying on each other to fulfill emotional needs. A little bit further. Just last thing on Will Smith, he actually recently made a docu series called Pole to Pole, I think in conjunction with the National Geographic. And I actually watched it because I wanted to see what it was about because I'm a big National Geographic kind of guy and I love that whole explorer kind of thing. So he explored in this docuseries. He went from pole to pole, literally he went from on every continent, talking to people, visiting famous sites and exploring places, remote places, just to find, guess what? What makes people happy. I didn't really. I actually didn't know that that was the thrust of the whole docuseries. But as I watched it, I listened. I sat and listened to him explain why he made it. He said I wanted to find out what makes people happy. You know what? If I could talk to the Fresh Prince, you know what I would tell him that will, you have the right sentiment, but the wrong source. The Fresh Prince needs to meet the Prince of Peace, because happiness and joy is only found in the One who created all things and the One who can give you a water, a living water. And if you drink that water, he said, you will never thirst again. And I will tell you tonight, if you're looking for happiness, we gotta start right there with Jesus. With Jesus. So I read from the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5. I read from the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew. So Matthew is one of our first gospels, the first of the synoptic Gospels. It's not the earliest in a writing of the Gospel writings. Mark is the earliest, but Matthew's the first in our synoptic Gospels and the first in the canonical writings, written about 70 AD by, you know, Matthew, the tax collector. Most historians or theologians will say. And in chapter five of Matthew, we see Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is a series of Jesus sayings, famous sayings that Jesus, well known sayings of Jesus in which he's talking about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and what the kingdom of God looks like when it impacts your life, when the kingdom of God impacts the heart of an individual. Jesus talks about what that looks like is the greatest sermon ever preached. And so in the first nine verses of the Sermon on the Mount, because the Sermon on the Mount actually goes from chapter five to chapter seven. But the first nine statements we call the Beatitudes. And the Beatitudes come from a Latin word called beatus, which means watch this, to be happy. And so the word that Jesus used was not happy in our terms. He used the word blessed. That word blessed in the Greek is the word makarios. The word makarios means. Yep, you guessed it, happy. Happy. And Jesus uses that word nine times. The Sermon of the Mount gives us Jesus prescription for righteousness in God's economy in the New Testament under the New Covenant. What it means is righteousness is no longer demonstrated by outward religious adherence, although religious adherence is still an important thing. But righteousness is. That is now impacting the heart, is what God is after. And when he. When God has impacted the heart, he tells you, this is what it looks like for one to be born again. And that's what we see in the Mount of Beatitudes. I know this is Wednesday night Bible study, but I feel like preaching. Anybody with me? But don't worry, I'll restrain myself. It's okay. Okay. So I would be remiss if I didn't say this, if I didn't mention this, but I actually had an opportunity a little over a year ago. Was it Pastor Mike, the year before last, or two years ago, we went. I had an opportunity to go to Israel for the first time. And I was on the Mount of Beatitudes. The Mount of Beatitudes is located northwest of the Sea of Galilee. And there I am, standing there on the mountain Beatitudes, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I was chilling with Pastor Gary. It was a beautiful, beautiful experience. All of the places and sites we went, my faith was actually forever changed by those sites that I saw and just standing in the places where Jesus stood. Now, am I saying that's exactly where Jesus stood? No, I don't know that. But just being there and seeing my faith just unpacked and unfolded before my eyes to see the things that I saw and to witness the things that I saw. The city of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. So that was Pastor Andy doing the devotional down there on the Mount of Beatitudes? No, I wasn't taking pictures while Pastor Andy was teaching, but I was there. I was there. So just an amazing experience. But just to give you a little bit more context, here on the Mount of Beatitudes, or the Sermon on the Mount here, just where are we in the biblical timeline? So in the Book of Matthew, we see the first of the Gospels, right? We're getting to the New Testament. Well, 400 years before that, the last prophet to speak was the prophet Malachi. Okay. And the prophet Malachi gave us some very specific prophetic words about the coming of the Messiah. And so I'm going to read that a little bit for you. And so just real, real briefly, you don't have to turn there. Just. Just listen with me. Malachi, Chapter four. The prophet says this, and the day which is coming shall burn them up. Verse one says, the Lord of hosts shall that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings. Speaking of the Messiah, right? You with me. And you shall go out and grow fat like stall fed calves you shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the sole of your feet. On the day that I do this, says the Lord of hosts, remember the law of Moses, right? Because in the old covenant, the law of Moses was the abiding covenant. Am I right? So the abiding covenant was the law of Moses. He says, remember this my servant, which I command him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet. Now what does that mean? He's going to send them Elijah the prophet. Does that mean Elijah is going to come back from the dead? No, he's actually talking about John the Baptist. I'll show you that in just a second. John the Baptist, who will be the prophet, who will now pick up this first? The first prophet to be used of God after the intertestamental period, which is about 400 years when Malachi last spoke. Right? It's about 400 years until the time John the Baptist comes on the scene. And he's going to come in the spirit of Elijah. To do what? To be the forerunner. For who? The Messiah. He said, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Pretty serious tone there in the Old Testament Scripture. To leave off the last words in the Old Testament there. Pretty serious words. But I want to show you this. Luke, chapter one and verse 13 again. I'm just doing some turning here. You don't have to turn, But Luke, chapter one, verse 13, just to kind of give you the fulfillment of that prophecy that we read there. So the prophet Gabriel upset the prophet Gabriel. The angel Gabriel is speaking to Zacharias the father of. Of John the Baptist. And the Scripture says this, but the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard. And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will also go before him in the spirit and power of Whom Elijah and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Isn't that the similar language that we read in Malachi? He said he returned the heart of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Now the Lord Jesus further goes. Matthew chapter 11. I'll just read that for you real quick. Matthew chapter 11, right there about verse 13. The Lord Jesus said this for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John about AD 25 is when the Lord broke his silence, so to speak. Right? Because when we say that the intertestamental period there was a period of 400 years of silence, that simply means that God was not speaking through any prophets particularly. And there were no canonical writings that God was inspiring. That's what we mean by that. And so Jesus says for all the prophets in the law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who was to come. So he is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Malachi. And so I just read that for you, just to share this with you in the Old Testament scripture. The Old Testament scripture ended with the law of Moses and a curse. The New Testament scripture introduces Elijah to come, which is John the Baptist, who introduces us to the Son of God who gives us a blessing. The Old Testament reveals a curse, but the New Testament Jesus brings a blessing. His first words to humanity when he begins his preaching ministry. And so isn't that good news? Amen. So just want to share with you right here as we further give it a little bit more context. And then I'm going to get into the happiness prescription. You with me? I don't want to lose you. I'm gonna get into this whole idea of happiness. All right? So during Jesus earthly ministry, when Jesus is coming on the scene here with his preaching ministry and as he's beginning to impact people with this message of the kingdom of God, there are four prevailing ideas that Jesus is kind of preaching in and around. Four prevailing ideas. Number one, you have the Pharisees. Now, the Pharisees would say happiness is found through religious observances, historical tradition, moral and ritual purity and cultural superiority. The Pharisees would say we have to hold on to these things if you're going to be what? Happy? Another group, another prevailing idea. That doesn't mean to say that these are the only ideas that were around, but they're the most prevailing. Right? These are Jewish groups, the Jewish group of the Pharisees, the Jewish group of the Sadducees, if anybody needed to be happy as these sad, you see, they would say that happiness is found in socio, political influence, cultural affluence, right? They wanted to get rich. They wanted to, they thought, you know, hey, the more money we have, the more influence we have. That's happiness. They would say, strict religious adherence to the law and the Torah, without the belief in an afterlife for the resurrection though, we don't need all of that afterlife talk. That's why they were so sad, you see, they didn't believe in heaven. You sad, you know, hope. Paul said, listen, if our life is, and our hope for our life is in this life only, you are of all men, most what miserable, then you have the Jewish group called the Essenes. The Essenes would say happiness is found by communal living. They were hippies, right? They said they would say that, you know, happiness is found by communal living and simplicity, isolating oneself from the evil of the world, ritual purity and mysticism. They would say, we, we just need to find happiness and just disconnect, unplug from the rest of the world and just live in our own sort of bubble. That's, that's happiness. Then you had the zealots. This is the 4th and most and major group of that time. The zealots would say happiness is found in political revolution. Viva la revolucion, right? Happiness is found in political revolution, social activism, acquisition of power via militant action and the rejection of Roman taxation and governance. It would say overthrow the man. Then you can find what? Happiness. Happiness in the world we live in today. You know what? I would dare to say some of these ideas aren't so far fetched. Well, some of these ideas are not so unfamiliar, put it that way, not so unfamiliar. There's still people who would say, you know, we want to, through social activism, overthrow the government. They don't like any government at all. There are people who would say, you know, happiness is found if we just sort of get as much money as we can, right? Influence, power, that'll make me happy. Boundless resources, that riches that would make me happy. If I just had a little bit more, I'd be happy. Happiness is perfect relationships. If I just had a better marriage, I would be happy, right? I just had better children or better behaving children. Not better children, better behaving children. I'd be happier. I just had a better job. If I could just climb the corporate ladder just a bit more. If I could get a better position, I'd be happier. If I could get accepted into certain Social circles and spheres of influence, I would be happy. But all of that is actually fleeting. Untrue. Here's what Jesus would say where happiness is found. I'm going to go back here to chapter four. Just going to read this for you. Matthew, chapter four. You don't have to turn there again. I'm just going to read this as a part of our first point. Matthew, chapter four. I'm in verse 17. When Jesus was. He's just come out of the wilderness being tempted of Satan in the wilderness. And the Bible says that the first thing he did, he began. He said he began to preach. His preaching earthly ministry. He said, repent. The first thing he says, repent. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. First thing he says is repent. In Mark's Gospel, he says it translates to repent and believe the gospel, the good news. So I want to tell you right now, the first, if you're taking notes, the first principle of happiness tonight begins with being made right with God. The first principle of happiness is being made right with God. If you're not right with God tonight, I guarantee you you've got some enter turmoil and some problems. If you're a believer here tonight and you're not right in your relationship and your walk and there's some things you gotta get right with God. You believe in Jesus, you. But there's some things that you know aren't right. You need to repent because you're never going to be happy and at peace because the Holy Spirit won't let you because he's the spirit of truth and the spirit of righteousness and holiness. And the Bible says whom he loves, he will chasten. And I guarantee you tonight, if there are things that are unconfessed, if you are walking in rebellion toward your God, you are not happy. Let me share that with you in the Scriptures. Proverbs 13 and 15 says this. The way of the transgressor is hard. Proverbs 13:15. One translation of that text says, the way of the sinful is hard. It's hard. Paul the apostle tells us this. We look at Paul's conversion experience in Acts chapter 9. The Lord speaks to him, right? The Lord speaks to them. He says, saul, it is hard for you to kick against the goads. What are the goads? The gold is an agrarian term and it is a spike. That, that the, that the, the agricultural, the one who uses, you know, oxes to plow their fields. They would put spikes in the ox's legs, on the hind legs, or what have You. And wherever that ox would turn, if it would go in the wrong direction and it kicks against those spikes, it would cause pain. And so that would be a way that they could train the ox to go in the right direction. So Jesus uses that agrarian term to speak to Saul. And he says, saul, it is hard for you to kick against the gold. Going against your Creator. Living in rebellion makes a life that is hard and difficult. Psalm 32, 1:5 says this. Let me read this for you. Here's a Psalm of David. He says, blessed is he. Blessed. Oh, where did I hear that word? I just heard that in the Beatitudes, the Makarios. But in the Hebrew text, in the Old Testament, the Hebrew term is aser. And you know what aser means? Happy. It says blessed. Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, he says, my bones grew old. I can't even move. You know, when your bones get old, it aches, right? I can't even move. I have no flexibility. My mobility is limited. When I kept silent about my sin, he says, when I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning. All the day long I hear bones growing old, aching, groaning. Does that sound like somebody who's happy? Doesn't. He says, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me. It says God was actually opposing him. He says, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me, and my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I hear words like groaning, heavy drought. I'm unhappy because I'm now concealing my sin. He said, but then this. I acknowledge my sin to you. And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord. And you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Happiness first principle. Get right with God, don't oppose God. I would dare to say that people today, if what. What Paul would say in Romans chapter one is that you're suppressing the truth. You know what suppression of the truth does? Suppression of the truth causes you to have a conflict of men of your mental state. That's what happens in the world. You can see that today. I. I actually believe that there are people who have mental issues, right? Who have mental health struggles because of biochemical issues. I think that's real. However, I'm also convinced that there are many people, far too many people who are in a mental. Who are in a State of mental anguish because they are suppressing what is true, suppressing what is right. It's like a volleyball. It's like a beach ball. You ever get in a pool and you try to push a beach ball down, what happens? It pops right back up because it doesn't want to live there. Its nature is such that it wants to be up and you're trying to push it down. And it causes a sense of disequilibrium because it's not right and it's not at a place where it's equalized. That's what happens in your mind and in your heart and your soul when you're not right with God. Second principle. Second principle. Jesus said, happy are the spiritually impoverished. Here's what he said. He said, blessed are the poor and in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs. Let me make sure I got it right. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What Jesus is actually saying to us is that not only are these Beatitudes, the. The entryway into the kingdom of God, but it's also what happens when the kingdom of God impacts you. You will become spiritually impoverished. You will repent, you will become spiritually impoverished. So what does it mean to be spiritually impoverished? That word is in the Greek, patakos, not tacos, guys. Patakos, Right. And that word means a deep sense of desperate poverty. So in America, we experience what we see, first world kind of poverty. People who are impoverished, but they still have cell phones and Jordan sneakers. That's not real poverty. Yeah, you could be like a broke. That's the difference in broke and poverty in the third World poverty. Talk to people who are on the mission field. You've seen third world poverty, haven't you? Third world poverty are people who are so desperate, they're in the streets saying, please, please, I need food, I need sustenance. And Jesus is saying, if you want to be happy, get on your knees and cry out to God and say, God, I am desperate for the righteousness in the water that you give. I am poor in my spirit. Spiritual poverty causes you to be desperate, to beg and say, God, I need you. Are you desperate for God in that way? And I would dare to say, you're not going to be happy until you become desperate for God, recognizing your spiritual poverty. Here's what the word of God, how the word of God describes the spiritual condition of man. Paul the Apostle would say this in Romans chapter seven. He says, I know that in me that is, in this flesh dwells no good thing. There's nothing good in us. The Bible says no one seeks after God. There is no one that is good. There's no one. Revelation, chapter three, verse 17. Jesus says this to the church of Laodicea. Remember that you better, because Pastor Gary has one of the most foremost revelation studies that there is. Right? In Revelation chapter 3, Jesus speaks to the church of Laodicea, the lukewarm church, and he says that they think this of themselves, that I am rich and increased with goods and I need nothing, not knowing that in actuality, he says, you are poor and you are wretched and you are naked. Sometimes your spiritual, your earthly riches and abundance of things could cause you to be blind to your actual spiritual condition. The fact that you have lots of earthly stuff does not mean that God is necessarily pleased with you. That is not a sign that you are favored with God because you can still be naked and wretched, not recognizing your true condition. Psalm 86. 1 David said this. Bow down your ear to me, O Lord, because I am poor and needy. I am poor. Luke 18. You remember the Luke 18 parable? Jesus is speaking about this parable of a tax collector and, and a, and a Pharisee who comes down to the temple and the, the, the tax. The Pharisee says, man, I'm sure glad I'm not like these people. I'm so glad I'm not like these sinners. I fast all this, this amount of times. I give so much to the temple, I, I do this, I pray I do this and look at my good works. And the, and Jesus said, then the, the tax collector, he, he didn't even so much as look, lift up his eyes to heaven. He beat his breasts himself and said, lord have mercy upon me, a sinner. He said, only one of those guys went away from the temple that day, justified. And it wasn't the religious one. It was the one who recognized his spiritual poverty. You want to be happy? Agree with God's assessment of your sin. Agree with God's assessment of our lack and need, of our lack of righteousness and our need for him. If you want to be happy, God is near to the spiritually humble, the spiritually broken and the spiritually impoverished. Martyn Lloyd Jones, the famous and well known British preacher and theologian, said this. It is nothing then that we can produce. It is nothing that we can do in and of ourselves. It is just this tremendous awareness of our utter nothingness as we come face to face with God. Isaiah, the prophet, said when he saw the Lord, when God was commissioning him to be a Prophet of the nation. He said, I saw the Lord. And you know what seeing the Lord did to him? And he said, when I saw the Lord, I immediately saw myself. He said, oh, oh, oh, wretched man that I am. He said, oh, who this? This I. I am undone. He says, I am no good in the sight of a holy God. When you look and stare in the face of God long enough, and you look into the law of God long enough, you will recognize your spiritual poverty and your need for Him. Number three. Number three. I don't think we're gonna get to all of them tonight, so I'll pick out the ones that I think give us the biggest bang for our buck. How about that? All right, Principle number three. Jesus said, happy are those who mourn, Happy are those who mourn. Now that seems like a paradox, doesn't it? How am I gonna be happy by morning? How am I gonna be happy by morning when. Well, here's what he. Here's what he meant. That word in the Greek is pentheo, and it means to wail, to cry, to grieve, but rightly so, to grieve over our sin. Not only. And you see how the interconnectedness of these beatitudes, these blessed attributes. One, it starts with repentance. Then it goes on to a sense of poverty, a recognition of poverty. Then that poverty leads me to mourning when I recognize that my response to my sin. I'm going to tell you what. If you are a true believer, and I don't mean to put a condition on your salvation or anything like that, but I believe that the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a true believer changes our response to sin. There's no way that a true believer can rejoice in sin. There's no way that a true believer can feel good in their sin. It's what the Holy Spirit is doing in you, whether you like it or not. Your sin is not comfortable any longer in your life. It should cause you to mourn. It doesn't mean that we don't have sin. Lord knows, we got enough. But it should cause us to mourn and look at our sin with a response that says, I am in grief and sorrow. James 4:8. I got to read that to you. James 4:8. And Lord knows, I'm running out of time. But here we go. Lament and mourn and weep. James says, let your laughter be turned to mourning, your joy to gloom. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will do what he will, lift you up. So how will you be happy when you mourn. When you mourn over your sin and you give the right response to your sin. The Bible says Jesus said this. Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The word comfort is associated with the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, who God said is the comforter and he will lift you up. Happy are those who mourn because God will pour out his Holy Spirit amply to you when you bow down before him and recognize your need for the most high God. Amen. The mourner is comforted by God who supplies his Holy Spirit, the comforter. To those who rightly respond to their sin. Plead with God that gives you a heart that hates what he hates and loves what he loves. That is a pathway to happiness, a state of contentment. Let me give you the next one. Principle number four. Jesus said, happy are the hungry thirsty. He says, happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Let me tell you something. Until you get to the place where you are hungry for God more than anything else, you're not going to be filled with the, with the, with the filling, the filling of God until you get hungry for him. I remember I was, you know, I was a freshman in college and I was in a bus station. I was going up to see my aunt in Brooklyn, New York, just to go visit, you know, during my freshman year of college. And I ran into a homeless guy. And this guy comes to me, he says, man, I'm so hungry. I'm so hungry. I said, okay, let me see what I can do for you. I'm a broke first year college student. I don't have nothing, couple dollars in my pocket, you know. But I said, you know what? I have a Swiss cake roll. Anybody remember Swiss cake rolls? I said, I have a Swiss cake roll in my backpack, went and retrieved the Swiss cake roll, got it out and gave it to him. And he said, oh, I can't eat that. I looked at him, I said, huh? He said, oh, I can't eat that, man. I've got this bad tooth. I said, okay, you're not really hungry. Because if you've ever been hungry before, bad tooth or not, I'm hungry. Give me the Swiss cake roll, my brother. You're not really hungry when you're hungry for God, you know, you go to great lengths. I'll walk through a desert. God, I gotta find you. I need you. I need you more than anything. I need you more than the air I breathe. You gotta get hungry for God. And that again, it doesn't make us righteous. Self righteous, goody two shoes, good doers. It means that I'm wretched. I'm a beggar looking for bread, just like the next man. I'm in need of the Lord. I recognize my need. Hungry for the Word of God. First, Peter says this. He said that you ought to hunger for the Word of God like a. Like newborn babes. He says, like newborn babes hunger for the Word of God. Are you in your Bible? You hungry for God? Enough that you're reading your Word in your Bible? Are you praying? Are you getting in the face of God? Psalm 42, 1:4. We know it. I don't have to read it, but you know, the psalm says, as the deer panted after the water, so my soul pants for you, Lord. Psalm 63. Let me share that with you real, real quickly. And I'm going to bring us to a close. One of my favorite psalms. There. Psalm 63. He says, oh, God, you are my God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. He says, so I've looked for you in the sanctuary. I'm looking for you. I'm thirsty for you. I'm hungry for you to see your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips will praise you, and I will bless you. While I live, I will lift up my hands in your name. And guess what? My soul will be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. That in the Greek, I'm sorry, the Hebrew, that marrow and fatness translates to a banquet of the richest of foods. You got to be hungry for God. Hungry for God. And I want to end with this one. Principle number five. Happiness is found in your pursuit of mercy. Jesus said, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. You want to obtain mercy? You'd better be merciful. Jesus said this in his prayer. In his model prayer, he said, you ought to ask for forgiveness. He said, forgive men. He says, when you forgive, your heavenly Father shall forgive you. You want mercy? You better be merciful. Let me read this for you. Matthew 18. And this is the parable. The parable of the unjust, unfaithful. And before. Jesus shares this part of the parable, the disciples were asking him, jesus, how often should I forgive a guy? How often should I forgive my brother if he sins against me? He says, you know what he says? Should I forgive that guy seven times? He said, actually, what you should do is forgive him. 70 times 7 in one day. That's about 490 if I'm doing my math. Right. Right. So I should let people offend me that much? Why should I let them get away? Listen, do you want to be happy? Then learn to relinquish and release unforgiveness. Learn to be merciful. You know why. First and foremost, Paul said Colossians chapter three. He says, you ought to forgive those you have a complaint against, recognizing that God first forgave you. If you want mercy, you'd better be merciful. He says this. I do not say to you up to seven times, but seventy times seven. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one who was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. What is he asking for mercy? Then the master of the servant was moved with compassion. He released him and forgave him the debt. But that servant then went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid his hands on him. He took him by the throat, saying, pay me with what you owe me. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. And he would not. But he went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved and came and told the master all that had been done. Then his master, after he called him, said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? What is the Lord saying? That master is the Lord. His servant is the unforgiving, unmerciful one whom he had shown mercy. He says, you want mercy? You better be merciful. You want to be happy? Relinquish your right to hold on to everything that you want to withhold as it relates to forgiveness. Recognizing that your heavenly Father has forgiven you, let God be the arbitrator of right or wrong, you relinquish it. It is for you, not the other person. Relinquish it so that you can live in a state of blessedness and happiness. Amen Amen. Listen as we pray and bring us to a close. Psalm 84 says this. I know I'm sharing a lot of scripture guys, and I'm three minutes over time. Psalm 84 said this one of my favorite psalms. There was a series of blessedness that the writer of the psalms shared. He said, blessed are those who dwell in the house of the Lord, for they will ever be praising him. You want to be happy, Blessed. That word aser in the Hebrew. You want to be happy, dwell with God, get in God's presence. The Bible says, in the presence of the Lord, there is fullness of joy, fullness of peace, and at his right hand there's pleasure evermore. Blessed. It goes on to say, blessed are those whose strength is found in the Lord. Blessed are you. Happy are you. When God is your source, your source of strength, then the last thing it says is, blessed is the one who trusts, who makes the Lord his trust. If your hope is not in the Lord and your trust is not in God, you will never find the pathway to happiness. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus name, God, I thank you because you are such a faithful, holy, righteous God. Your promise to us, your promises are sure. Your promises to us that we can find the pathway to contentment and true joy. And it is in you, Lord, we can find that place of peace. You said, Lord Jesus, your peace, my peace I give you not as the world gives. You said, if any man drinks this water that I give, he will never thirst again. Lord, we run to you. We run into your presence. We run to your word, the truth. We run to the good news of your gospel. We fall down on our feet, fall down on our knees and say, lord, have your way. I confess I repent. Have mercy upon me, a sinner. I bless you and I praise you. In Jesus name, amen.